Capitalizing on the Little Edges in Poker: Incentives

Virtually every major retailer now offers some form of “Rewards Card” where the consumer receives some type of compensation for shopping at the store -typically the more you spend the better the reward. Well the same holds true for online poker rooms, virtually every online poker site offers players at least one of the following incentives to play at their poker tables:

• Deposit Bonuses
• Rakeback Deals
• VIP Programs

In this article I will detail how these seemingly small incentives can add up to big bucks in the long-run, and how to incorporate these incentive plans into your decision of which site to join.

Deposit Bonuses

Deposit bonuses were the first reward online poker sites started offering players, and still remain the most popular marketing tool in online poker. Unfortunately, the online poker sites have pretty much turned clearing a deposit bonus into a science, where it is totally based on the amount of rake you pay to the site -since this is now how the majority of online poker rooms award Frequent Player Points, but more on that later.

In the past deposit bonuses were usually cleared by simply playing raked hands, which made clearing deposit bonuses extremely easy, and extremely lucrative. In today’s online poker world even though the numbers may be different: 100% up to $600, 150% up to $400, or 11% up to $1,100, the actual breakdown of the bonus works out roughly the same -typically about $.06 for every $1 in rake collected.

Deposit bonuses are still a great way to pad your bankroll, but often times you’ll be better off with a rakeback deal -which pays slightly more per hand than a deposit bonus, and since you cannot collect both at the same time, your rakeback deal will trump your deposit bonus.

Rakeback Deals

Unlike deposit bonuses, rakeback deals last forever. Furthermore the average player will make more per hand with a rakeback deal than they will through a deposit bonus. Since only a few online poker rooms allow you to collect a deposit bonus and rakeback concurrently, it’s almost always better to choose the rakeback deal -most sites deduct your deposit bonus from your rakeback totals.

Although the manner in which a site determines your rakeback can vary, it usually works out about the same. A typical 30% rakeback deal would produce the following earnings per hand:

• In a 6-handed game with $1 in rake = about $.05/hand
• In a 10-handed game with $1 in rake = about $.03/hand
• In a 6-handed game with $3 in rake = about $.15/hand
• In a 10-handed game with $3 in rake = about $.09/hand

VIP Programs

VIP Rewards Programs are the latest addition to the online poker world; these rewards programs give players incentives and rewards based on the volume they put in at an online poker site -basically, the more you play, the more you will be rewarded. Some VIP programs go so far as exchanging Frequent Player Points for cash, which for some players works out to be more than even a rakeback deal can offer!

This is why it’s so important to do a little research and see which incentive program is more beneficial to you: RakeBack or a VIP Rewards Program with an FPP for Cash exchange.